Stage 6 is often called The Labyrinth. Everything is always changing, I’ll be no good to you here. I’m just.. going to... rest.

Oliver found it a bit odd, but he was sure that the Ring sounded a bit... tired. Odd for something without lungs to sound winded. He relayed the comment to the rest of the group, expecting that they would find it frustrating at the least, but the girls just shrugged.

“S’fine,” Rose commented, waving his concerns away.

Nada just nodded with her arms crossed while she bobbed gently in the air. “Of course. I doubt there is too much that could challenge us now. We’re a bit ahead of the curve, so to speak.”

Cora just pursed her lips and shrugged, while Silas said nothing, his nose buried in his magical book which had grown again after clearing the last Stage.

Relieved, Oliver took a look around. The passageway they were in was about ten meters wide. The walls rose into the air, but the actual height was impossible to tell. A heavy mist hung another ten meters up, preventing anyone from knowing how high they actually were. The same mist blocked their view of the passageway about five meters in both directions, leaving the group in a ten meter cube of visibility.

“Fog of war,” Rose muttered.

Cora began ordering the group into formation. “Okay, I’m out front. Rose, scout the edges of this thing, see if getting close makes any difference at all. You all know the drill.”

The first time he heard it, it was so faint that Oliver wasn’t sure what he’d heard at all. Still, his head snapped up with lightning speed and he glared down the passageway behind them, as if trying to force the heavy fog to dissipate with sheer will.

Cora was still organizing the group, but Nada interrupted her to ask, “Oliver, what’s wrong?” Her normally dismissive voice gave way to a tone of genuine concern. The shift was enough to snap the rest of the group’s attention to her, then to Oliver. Even Silas’s head came up from his book in alarm.

“Oliver?” Rose asked, but Oliver did not hear her. His ears picked up the voice again, clearer this time.

He ran into the fog as fast as he could.

The voice, her voice, was always there, just around another corner. Sometimes a whisper, sometimes like she was standing right next to him. Calling him.

“Olliver? Are you there, babe?”

“Olliver, it’s late. Come to bed.”

“Hurry up, babe!”

“Olliver...”

Every time he got close, the voice would vanish only to pop up further away. The Ring stayed quiet, like it had fallen asleep or passed out.

Turn after turn, Oliver chased the voice. How long he ran, he didn’t know. There was no way for him to find his way back, not even after the first few turns.

Eventually, the voice stopped and did not resume. The passageway had no further corners or intersections, it just continued straight on. The passage was a bit narrower, shorter, and simpler. The impressive stone walls and cobblestone floor gave way to a dirt path and wooden plank walls. With nowhere to go but forward, Oliver inched on. The fog in front of him gently dissipated, clearing the way forward for the first time since he entered the maze.

Suddenly, the path ended. It emptied into a single, round space with only one exit or entrance, the one that Oliver currently occupied. The wooden walls of the round chamber rose into the air where it vanished into the mist hanging above. The dirt floor gave way to a small pool in the very center of the otherwise empty space.

The pool was clear, yet shallow. Oliver checked the space. Every nook and cranny, looking for any clues as to the source of the voice. He found... nothing.

Turning to leave, Oliver heard a different voice. One he had not heard since the Fourth Stage.

“Giving up just like that? Tut. Tut.”

Oliver turned to see a face he’d hoped to never see again. Hovering over the pool was the withered, ancient person who had interrogated him in the worst of the Stages so far.

“Oh? Don’t like this look, eh?” the withered shell teased. “How about this?”

The figure sank into the inch-deep water and vanished. Moments later, it re-emerged, distinctly different this time. The tattered robe remained, but the figure beneath was no longer hunched and aged. A striking young woman’s figure left subtle hints from beneath the aged cloak. Her hair was still white, but now it glowed like a full moon, striking and luminescent. Between the hood and curtain of porcelain hair, only the tip of a nose could be seen on the stranger’s face.

“Better?” she asked, voice smooth, soft, and hauntingly familiar.

“Who are you?” Oliver demanded. “Why did you use Jamie’s voice to lure me here?”

“I am one of those in charge of this Tutorial. We are three; the Engineer, the Proctor, and the Arbiter. I am the Arbiter, and you and I needed to have a chat.”

“So you, what, judge?”

The figure nodded. “It is not my position to create or administer the Tutorial, but to be an impartial advocate. If the Tutorial is too simple, it is within my authority to increase the challenge. If it is too difficult, I am allowed to... cheat. Just a bit.”

“And you’re here because I’m... cheating?”

The figure nodded again. “Your Ring is a powerful advantage, yet, despite all of its assistance, your people continue to fail. It’s not the least bit surprising, as your people were not ready for this challenge. It was not humans that initiated this, after all. I’m sure by now that you have surmised the powers of your Ring?”

Oliver examined the silent band on his third finger. “It said that it helps lost cases through the Tutorial.”

The Arbiter chuckled, once. “It would say something like that. What the Ring did not tell you was that it is only able to give its assistance in this Tutorial, the one you’re going through right now.”

Oliver’s mind swam as pieces clicked together. “You mean, all the failures it mentioned, they were from this tutorial? Is it repeating it over and over?”

“Just so. You see, humanity never really stood a chance of integrating into the Collective. Not really. Your world and your people are destined to be fought over by the various powerful groups of The Collective and divied up like the spoils of war. Yet, one man made an impressive effort to stop the pillaging and slaughter. He advanced further than anyone else in his Tutorial. With his final breath, he sacrificed everything to create a Bound ring that would contain his whole spirit, and send it back to the beginning of the Tutorial to... offer its assistance. Unfortunately, he’s failed many, many times.

“The Engineer and the Proctor design and run the Tutorial, respectively. They are respected and revered for their tasks. The Arbiter, by comparison, is rarely called upon to fulfill her duty, yet this quirk of fate offered me a gift. Perspective. You see, while I merely observe and judge, my authority within the Tutorial is absolute, and even a time-looping Ring is not beyond my ability to observe. I have watched your people fail three-hundred and twenty-seven times. Watched as your race struggled and grew only to face oblivion again and again, for centuries.”

Oliver said the only thing he could. “Wow.”

“Hmm. Wow, indeed. As a judge, I’ve always had a thing for underdogs, and they don’t come more of a long-shot than humanity.”

Oliver was silent for a moment to process. “Have you always spoken to the Ring’s... host?”

“No. You are the first.”

“Why?”

This time, the Arbiter was silent for a moment. “There is much I cannot divulge to you. Not yet. I will say this: The Ring slipped this time. Every previous bearer of the Ring has fallen to their anger, their rage. The Ring fans those flames. It sees anger as a source of power. It is mistaken. You are the first of its charges to push forward, yet keep your humanity. I saw the opportunity... and I judged. I cheated. Just a little.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Oliver asked.

“I needed to give you a piece of advice, but I needed you to take it to heart. The Ring will guide you, it’s in its nature. Consider its counsel, but never let go of your humanity. The fate of your entire world is at stake. You will not succeed on your own, nor will your small group be sufficient. You must grow. You must lead. Be decisive and brutal where you must. Be virtuous where you can.”

Oliver looked around in a panic. “Crap! My... friends, I left them behind.”

The Arbiter hummed. “Hmm. Since I am responsible for leading you astray, it’s only right that I reunite you with your party. Mustn’t upset the balance, after all.”

There came a great rumbling outside the chamber with the pool, and Oliver saw movement within the mist that obscured the exit. The rumbling soon stopped.

“I have adjusted the path of the maze to lead you directly back to your friends.”

Oliver didn’t leave immediately. He stared at the curtain of hair in front of the Arbiter’s eyes. “Earlier, you used my wife’s voice. If I follow your path, will I have the chance...”

The Arbiter spoke with conviction. “If you succeed, you will speak to her again. I promise you this.”

Oliver firmed his resolve and nodded once to the Arbiter. As he turned to leave, the Arbiter spoke one more time.

“Oh, as you follow the path back to your friends, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for treasures. They could be anywhere.”

“-and I’m saying we should stay here! If someone is lost, you stay put! Those are the rules!”

Nada sighed, “Rose, we don’t know where he has gone. If this is like the last Stage, we’ll be reunited with him at the start of the next one, just like last time. We should be fine to move on.”

Suddenly, Barton stood straight with his tail sticking straight up. Ears raised, he locked on to a spot in the mist. After only a few seconds, Oliver came strolling from the fog of war.

He immediately started unloading his bag, creating a massive pile on the ground of potions, scrolls, disks, and more.

“Found a few treasures out there, figured I’d share.”